How to Get the Golden Bow – The Forgotten City

While it isn’t required for beating the game, getting the Golden Bow allows you to complete many of the quests. There are numerous vines that can be turned to gold with the bow, and then climbed or walked across to create a path to an otherwise inaccessible area. It’s also just fun to shoot stuff and watch it slowly turn golden!

It’s also important to note that once you enter the Shrine of Diana during this quest, you’ll have a fairly long section where you’re trapped and have to escape before you can freely explore the city again. If that doesn’t bother you, read on! Here’s how to acquire the Golden Bow:

Getting the Wooden Bow

Before you can get the Golden Bow, you’ll have to get a regular one first. In order to do so, you’ll have to restart the time-loop once after making sure certain events have transpired.

The First Shrine Collapse

Make your way to the market with all the stalls and shops. To reach the market from the shrine that the portal drops you off in, head left down the stairs, and continue on the main paved path until you reach the large, 4-way arch; turn left and you’ll be in the market. To reach the market from the villas of the patricians, simply go up the long staircase that leads to the 4-way arch, then continue straight and you’ll be in the market.

Once you’re there, head through the market and once you go up the small ramp, you’ll see a woman in a yellow dress cowering on the steps to your right.

Speak with her, and she’ll tell you about an assassin in the baths. Once you tell her you’ll help, she’ll run into the shrine, which will collapse. You can continue to the baths to talk to the assassin (who will break the Golden Rule), or you can just steal something from one of the nearby shops, which is a quicker way to break the Golden Rule. Follow Sentius back to the portal, and enter it to reset the time loop.

The Second Shrine Collapse

Head back to the market, and once again speak with the woman in the yellow dress. This time, you’ll be able to warn her not to go into the shrine after you tell her you’ll deal with the assassin. Continue to the baths and speak with the assassin, and you’ll have the option to tell him that Quinctus is in the shrine — do so, then follow the assassin, and the shrine will collapse on him once he enters. Take the note and the bow from his corpse.

Getting the Golden Bow

Turn around from the shrine, and head left and down the stairs into the market. Once you approach Desius’ stall with the bow in your inventory, he’ll come and propose a “Joint business venture”. Tell him to “Go on”, and accept his offer once he explains it. Take the “Fake” Golden Bow from him, then head to the Shrine of Diana, which you should have a quest marker for (if you don’t, start tracking “The Gilding” in your quest log).

Head inside the shrine, and extinguish both braziers and take the quiver from the base of the statue. Then aim at the bow in the statue’s hands, and you should get a prompt to exchange the fake bow with the real one. Do so, and the braziers will light again. Try to leave through the doors, and you’ll discover Desius has done you dirty (big surprise).

Escaping the Shrine of Diana

After you get done talking to Desius, you should be already looking at the hornet’s nest on the ceiling, and your bow should be out (equip it with mouse wheel down if it isn’t). Take aim by holding [Mouse 1], then release Mouse 1 to shoot the nest with your bow. It will turn to gold and fall to the floor, busting a hole that you can enter. Do so, then grab the arrows in the nearby chest. Jump down a few more times until you reach a tiny body of water with a skeleton and chest nearby.

It’s a long path through the palace, but fairly linear. If you’d like a full walkthrough to guide you back to the city, you can go here, and open up the “The Combat Path” at the bottom of the guide.

We hope this guide was helpful, and that you enjoy your new bow! Please leave us a comment if you have questions or suggestions (or even if you just want to say hi).